I'm looking for a second home in the Newport Coast-Newport Beach-Laguna Beach area.

Since I'll be there for only a portion of the year, a townhouse or condominium would probably best serve my needs. Which is the best Web site to learn of foreclosures, REOs and short sales in the area? It it realistic to try to purchase financially distressed real estate in these areas?

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Answers

Patrick,
You said that you want information about foreclosures, REOs, and short sales in Newport Beach, Newport Coast and Laguna Beach.
For distressed property information on homes not for sale, I recommend you check out http://www.PropertyRadar.com - an excellent site with public record information.
For information on distressed properties that are listed for sale, we can help you with that. Please see our property sites at http://www.LiveAtNewportBeach.com - and http://www.NewportCoastLive.com - or http://www.LiveAtLagunaBeach.com.
Contact me with your questions. Thanks.
Harrison K. Long, Realtor and broker associate, CA BRE 01410855, Coldwell Banker NRT, Newport Beach, CA.
949-854-7747

I specialize in distressed homes, and actively work the divorce, probate, REO, tax lien, default, NOD, trustee sale, bank owned, network. I also network directly with the gatekeepers at banks, CPA's, and attorney's who hold portfolios of properties that are "distressed". If this is the kind of Broker you want on your side, visit my link, and take a look.

I'd suggest signing up for RealtyTrac.com
I don't know the Orange Country market. I'm in Miami Beach. There's little distressed sales available here and many New Yorkers are purchasing here. But definitely RealtyTrac.com

Trulia is ok but fairly inaccurate. Same with Zillow. Realtor.com is more accurate.

There is an REO condo home now listed for sale at Laguna Beach - 21703 Ocean Vista - 21703 OCEAN VISTA Drive #202-A
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
If you want more information about that or any other proprty at Laguna Beach, please let me know.

Patrick, Looking for a second home, question is what are your intentions with this property, are you looking for a place for you and your family to visit, how many in your family, want views what kind of views, or are your single or a couple, want easy access to fitness like outdoor activities such as running, bicycling, swimming, boating or people watching. Are you into the night time life style, restaurants, bars, dancing like the downtown feel walk to everything. Or would you like quiet peaceful very private guard gated community. REO or shorts sales two without any emotions, REO's sell fast and Shorts Sale are not easy. The areas you have chosen has sellers with equity a big plus and the emotional factor is in play, you might just get that deal you have been looking for. Keep in mind some sellers have made money on their home and are not greedy or they are ready to buy a bigger home or they are ready downsizing and understand the market conditions and are not afraid. Food for Thought and Best of Luck....... Jesse (949) 219-2523

Patrick, if you believe the "experts" such as Dr. Adibi from Chapman College ( who has been dead wrong in the majority of his "predictions" over the years.) OR, the Doom & Gloom Bubble-Bloggers, such as Mr. Blue, then I guess you'll have to ignore the reality that - in spite of the above's claims of everything going down the tubes, in a hand basket - that the market in ALL Orange County price ranges is currently quite dynamic with some outstanding opportunities.

The higher price ranges right now are the best range for opportunity and excellent buys, contrary to the multiple offer lower price ranges in Orange County - which are beginning to trickle prices upward, into the higher ranges, providing an eventual firm bottom for them, soon, as well.

Here's a suggestion - instead of being overwhelmed by the hysterics of a Doom & Gloom Bubble-Blogger, take a look at a balanced presentation of today's real estate market, in my blog, linked below.

Patrick, your focus is on Newport Coast and Laguna Beach - properties well above the OC median price you generally read about in the media. The most recent data indicates that prices on Newport Coast and Laguna Beach homes most certainly will continue to fall almost all the way to 2011. Of course, the OC median price you may hear realtors talking about doesn't mean anything in Newport Coast or Laguna Beach, which are in the upper segment of home prices. The upper end prices have taken longer to start their plunge downward. Now that plunge is happening, as high end sellers cannot hold out forever with the hope of selling at a 2007 peak price.

The highest local authority in real estate in the OC is Chapman University's forecast, operated by Dr. Adibi. Just released, it says "Although our forecast suggests a bottoming out for median home prices, high-priced homes are still subject to further price erosions." If you buy, get a price that is below the present value of the home so you have a cushion to ride out the coming decline. That way you won't be upside down after owning for only a year. Good luck house hunting......

Patrick, the median price in Orange County California has been nudging upward every month since you posted your question - February 09. You have been given a number of good solid venues for a search of appropriate properties, and one huge clunker - Mr. Blue's.

Put on your hip boots if you visit Mr. Blue's site, because there is a pretty deep quagmire of negativity to wade through - and no real search venues. Good luck in your search.

Mr. Blue with his comment here seems to be a crasher of real estate information sites ... and jabs at other people's remarks, without providing correct and valuable information, and not identifying himself.

I ask that Mr. Blue introduce himself to me and others about who and where he is and let us know a good date and time to meet at Starbuck's. Let's all get together and talk about real estate.

If you want up to date information about OC properties, and those that are in the foreclosure pipeline, check out our site at Explore OC Homes ~ http://www.ExploreOCHomes.com.

If you want information about history of solds and trends at Newport Coast or elsewhere, please let me know. Thanks.

Patrick, you are looking in a great area! The bad news is that prices are dropping - buying now would likely result in you owning a declining asset. Certainly you'd want to avoid that. You could rent for a whole year and still be ahead of one month's worth of equity loss that owners are now suffering.

I cracked up when I read the February answer below that said "These are areas where you can get a property and be certain that the values will not diminish like other areas SINCE they are in such a highly desirable area."
What a crock. Values have gone down big time, most agents just won't be straight up and tell you that. Check out http://www.bluemove.blogspot.com for some real market factoids where you are looking. (However, I don't cover condos)

Yes, there are deals to be had - sometimes on the surface, it may not appear as such. You just have to dig a little deeper. For market reports, news and views about Newport Coast and Crystal Cove real estate, please visit my blog, http://www.NewportBeachRealEstateBlog.com. For more information, contact me either via email (Salas@ColdwellBanker.com) or phone. I am here to help. Also, I invite you to stop by my web site (see link below) for a direct search of Newport Coast homes for sale. Good luck - I hope you find "Your Place on the Pacific!"

Hi Patrick, There are some distressed properties available in the coastal area, though limited, not like the inland areas. I can send you only REO's (bank owned properties) in Newport, Corona Del Mar and Laguna if you're interested.
The major websites can be misleading, as I've found RealtyTrac is listing foreclosures that are actually just Notices of Default and generally are referencing just one of the mortgages on the property, in cases where there are multiple notes. The asking prices they are listing are so far off and in actuality the properties are not even for sale! Through our local MLS I can send you specifically bank owned properties in these towns if you let me know what price range you are working with. You can email me directly at: cfleming@coldwellbanker.com. Thanks!

Patrick....there are a few REOs in the Newport Beach/Coast areas, but not many. For example, there are only 4 REOs currently listed in Newport Coast, all of them are overpriced and have been on the market for 60+ days. Out of the 202 properties listed in NC, 2 are noted as being short sales.

Many of the real estate websites will not tell you which properties are REO or short sale....you really need to have someone here who knows what you are looking for and can alert you when some with potential is coming on the market.

These are very nice areas in which to have a home (and I hear Upstate New York isn't bad either :-). You asked about distressed properties in these areas and there are some, but I have to tell you that it has been my experience that most, if not all of the websites accessible to the general public tend to do almost more harm than good where information gathering is concerned.

I am not saying that Realtor.com, Zillow.com and Trulia.com among others don't have great information available, but I can tell you that without a guide and interpreter to help you find the true gems you will spend a whole lot of time looking at rocks and hoping to find the diamond.

A good buyer's agent (which is really what I believe you need) can make sure that you don't have to see every dadgum thing that may or may not be on the market. For instance, RealtyTrac, a website a lot of folks look to for Foreclosure's shows the information that is a matter of public record, i.e. the current defaulted amount which does not necessarily reflect the value of the home, what it would be listed for, or whether it is even for sale. I frequently see folks here who have stumbled upon one of these "listings" and get themselves all hot and bothered thinking they are going to be able to buy a 5 bedroom 3 bath home on 2 acres with a pool and a guest house in the middle of Beverly Hills for $30,000.

I don't work in the Newport Beach area myself but I do have a very good friend and colleague who specializes in that very area and is truly a local expert. His name is Kevin Hollingsworth and I would strongly urge you to give him a call at your convenience (714) 390-9707. He knows the area, he knows the market, he knows the contracts and he really knows how to treat a client. He is also a licensed contractor so he has an especially keen eye where properties are concerned.

Remember that a good buyer's agent costs you nothing and can save you money, aggravation and most importantly time.

As for whether it is realistic to try to purchase financially distressed properties in these areas, the short answer is "sure, as long as you have someone helping you who really knows the in's and out's of these challenging sales". Remember, that Short Sales are anything but short and homes that have been through the foreclosure process may not actually be your best buying deal depending upon the circumstances.

While I am not a Newport Beach based agent, I am something of an expert where distressed properties are concerned and if you want or need any additional information regarding purchasing these types of properties please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Of course every agent will tell you that OURS is the best website...:). I too have a website! Shocking, I know :)

One thing I can do for you....I can set you up a free website with a custom search using your criteria. Then you can receive and save all the listings that interest you as they hit the market. You can make notes and ask questions. Then you can begin to get a feel for the market and prices. This should help you begin your search. All listings have addresses and map features so you can drive by if you like...or at least map the home.

Shoot me an email if you'd like me to send you the link....and you can see what you think.

You might first check out http://www.realtor com to get a feel for the area. If that doesn't work for you, a lot of my clients like http://www.ziprealty.com. If you can't find anything in your price range, you might consider a timeshare at a place like Marriot's Newport Coast Villa's. My inlaw's have one and it's a great place to go each year.

If you are looking for a good second home within a beach community I would definitely look into the Newport beach to Laguna Beach area... These are areas where you can get a property and be certain that the values will not diminish like other areas SINCE they are in such a highly desirable area.

Also, if you ever decide that you want to rent out the place since you aren't using it you can get extremely high rents for the place as well...

You asked about websites to look at for properties in the area. Well you can look at this site that I have created that will allow you to actually create your own search criteria and change it whenever you please. You can freely search the MLS for homes that you might desire purchasing. The site is http://www.IwantABIGGERhouse.com
I highly recommend making your own account and beginning your online research for the perfect home for you. Also, you can contact me for further information or for any concerns that you might have...